In Which Finds-The-Way Thwarts Assassins and Cleanses All-Maker Stones

Time to report back to my Finds-The-Way Skyrim playthrough! Finally getting close to the end of writing about her run, with six sessions left after this post to cover.

This one features more action on Solstheim: finishing the assassination plot, getting control of Severin Manor, running Miraak’s Temple, and making serious progress on the main Dragonborn plot.

Play by play

Play date: 8/15-8/16/2024
Session numbers in this run: 60-61

Play by play details…

August 15th

Picked up where I left off with the assassination plot, just outside Morvayn Manor
Went in to talk to Councilor Arano, and got his objective to go get proof from Severin Manor
Since his wife was right there, also got her quest to get her folio
Overloaded, so trudged slowly over to Severin Manor
Got in and HI SEVERINS CAN I BORROW A BOTTLE OF SUJAMMA—oh well, you want to be stabby? CAN DO
Stabbed the hell out of the Severin women, then got the evidence out of their safe, and trudged back out to report in
Yep, the Severins sure totally were guilty as fuck! How did I know? Because they tried to stab me as soon as I walked in their door!
Got the objective to proceed to Ashfallow Citadel
Trudged on out with Teldryn to head that way
Triggered netch hunter encounter at Old Attius Farm
Since I was overloaded, didn’t bother to join them on the hunt
Then remembered, why the fuck am I trudging when I can call Arvak?
So called Arvak, mounted up, and started riding towards Ashfallow Citadel
But had to stop to fight some ash hoppers, and triggered another netch hunter group
I think I just ran into some of your clan members back over thattaway, y’all might want to consider joining up?
Reached Ashfallow Citadel, took out the exterior assassins, and looted a bit off the outside dead guards
Then started running the citadel, and made it all the way through to the end, only to get killed by arrow shot
Thrown back to coming into the citadel, so had to run it again
Was already overloaded anyway, so fuck it, looted the fuck out of everything!
Also called up the Ayleid Lich for a lot of the fighting instead of the Dremora Lord
Got all the loot off of Vendil Severin, and also the boss chest loot
Trudged back out and got the strongbox with the East Empire Pendant on the way out
Arvak’d up and boinged back to Raven Rock
As soon as I fast traveled in, triggered the bug with the pet nix-hound giving me stuff even though I hadn’t actually bought the nix-hound
But hey, that got me a third netch jelly, so all good
It was late enough in the evening that all the NPCs were headed to the Retching Netch
So I went in there to talk to Councilor Arano and tell him everything was sorted
He asked me to come talk with the First Councilor, but on the way to Morvayn Manor, we were rudely interrupted by a dragon deciding to strafe the city
We couldn’t have that, so helped the guards take it down, and it crashed behind the city
Since I was overloaded, had to call Arvak so I could ride up there in a timely manner to take it out
Pretty sure I heard some dialogue that wasn’t Teldryn, while up there? Maybe a Black Book madman? But didn’t get an actual visual, so don’t know for sure
Rode arvak back down again when done, and reported properly to Morvayn Manor
Got invited to be a citizen of Raven Rock, and granted Severin Manor
THANK SITHIS NOW I CAN PUT DOWN ALL THIS CRAP I’M CARRYING AROUND
Ahem er did I say that out loud?
Got new achievement for getting the manor!
Trudged over to Severin Manor to indeed put down all the crap I was carrying
Also nabbed stuff off the bodies of Tilisu and Mirri and tucked them out of the way for the game to clean them up
(Will assume they were properly taken to the tombs, of course)
Once everything was put away in the usual places I like to put things in Severin Manor, finally decided Finds deserved a nice comfy sleep in her brand new bed
WAIT WHAT THE CRISPY FRIED FUCK IS THIS WHAT AM I DOING
This time, transported to the Wind Stone
But since I didn’t have the Shout word to clear it yet, pulled a hasty retreat, and went by the Beast Stone
Confronted a cultist there and Teldryn called up his fire atronach to help fight them
Conveniently, though, this put me near Miraak’s Temple, so headed on up there to run the place
Long familiar with it at this point so no real surprises
Played the entire temple as per previous playthroughs, only this time, I summoned the Ayleid Lich some more for bigger fights
Got to the Black Book and had first face to face confrontation with Miraak
Returned to Tamriel and followed Frea out of the temple
Went with her to her village and talked to her father
Got his objective to go get the Shout word from Saering’s Watch
Left off there until next time
Also, got new achievement for completely running the temple!

August 16th

Picked up at the Skaal Village, and decided to head north towards Saering’s Watch
Confronted the pirates on the shoal on the way and took them out
Got the Deathbrand map and the helm
Also hit the nearby island with the dead Dunmer, and the journal about netch leather, to kick that plot off
Proceeded to Saering’s Watch, and killed a troll on the way
Found the reaver ranting about the treasure at Frossel, and took him out
Reached Benkongerike and marked it for the map, but didn’t go in
Reached Saering’s Watch and started fighting the dragon, but got killed during the battle, DOH
Thrown back to the Skaal Village, and so had to do take two
This time, I boinged back to Raven Rock and dropped off a bunch more stuff at the house, and sold stuff to the merchants
Once I did that, then I set out again with Teldryn to head for Saering’s Watch
This time I went the route behind Raven Rock
Killed a couple of nix-hounds
Found Frostmoon Crag but did not bother the werewolves
Found the Altar of Thrond but did not bother to head in and hassle the hagravens
Found Moesring Pass and mostly didn’t bother to fight with the rieklings unless any of them got directly in my way (because honestly, as previously observed, pretty much like kicking puppies)
Guite happily took down the next troll I found, though
Made it to Saering’s Watch again, and this time actually took out the dragon
But Miraak showed up to snipe the soul (yes yes fuck you very much, Miraak)
Got the Bend Will word off the wall, anyway, and headed back towards the Wind Stone
Marked Benkongerike again for the map
Re-did the fight with the pirates on the shoal, and re-did starting the netch leather quest as well
Reached the Wind Stone and cleared that little problem up
Freed all the Skaal, who helped me fight the resulting lurker, then everybody headed back to the village
Trudged along with them since very overloaded at this point
Finally got there and checked in with Storn, and got the directive to go talk to Neloth
Sold a whole lot of stuff to Baldor to get un-overloaded
Then realized I’d forgotten to nab the Deathbrand helm at the campsite on the shoal, so boinged back there to fix that problem
Then started hoofing it to Tel Mithryn, and passed through Bujold’s Retreat on the way
Overheard Bujold’s convo with her husband, but didn’t stop to talk with them
Reached the Sun Stone and cleared that one
Courier approached me as I came up on Tel Mithryn, with the first letter from Ralis
Then saw initial convo between Talvas and Varona
Talked to Varona and then proceeded in to talk to Neloth, which went pretty much as per previous playthroughs
Headed back out with Neloth to go hit Nchardak, and ran this pretty much as per previous playthroughs
Had to remind myself of a couple of details about the control cubes, and how to get into the side room with the resonance gem, but made it through okay
Got that resonance gem and other tasty boss loot at the end, including a stalhrim helmet
Got the Black Book and headed in to run it
Leveled up to 62 partway through running it
Reached the convo with Hermaeus Mora, and got his directive to go get the knowledge of the Skaal
Took the Dragonborn Force perk off the book, and returned to Solstheim
I think here was where I got the achievement for finishing the Path of Knowledge quest?
Talked to Neloth and then headed out to depart–and, of course, dragon!
Took out Krosulhah, and Miraak showed up again to snipe the soul
Arvak’d back to Raven Rock and returned to Severin Manor
Put away a lot more things, including magical weapons on the weapons plaques in the enchanter nook
When I was done with putting everything away, took another sleep–and hah, got transported to the Beast Stone, so cleansed that one, too
Boinged back to Raven Rock one more time
Got some things to sell out of the chests, and sold those things to merchants
Left off there until next time

Commentary

While running Ashfallow Citadel, I opted to call in the Ayleid Lich a lot more than the Dremora Lord–on the grounds that the lich could do its own summoning. And it could call storm atronachs as well, to do its own ranged magical fighting! Instant expansion to Team Dragonborn, fuck yeah!

The lich came in handy in Miraak’s temple, too. Especially given that I got overloaded again pretty quickly, and needed backup that could move faster than me!

It even pulled a Serana a few times, and resurrected some of our enemies to fight for it.

While I did find Bujold’s Retreat, I didn’t take any action on that plot in these two sessions. I wasn’t sure at the time if Finds was pro-riekling or pro-Nord. Later, I did decide to be pro-riekling! More on this in a coming post.

It was definitely easier to get around in Nchardak as an Argonian. It certainly takes the urgency out of the room flooding when you get the last cube!

I also noticed–not sure if this was the first time I noticed it or not, but–that Neloth threw lines even when swimming underwater. I’m not sure if that was intentional game design or not?

But I could also totally see Neloth being powerful enough to a) have a waterbreathing spell, and b) be perfectly capable of making himself magically heard even while swimming underwater, if he wanted to. The dude does have a humongous ego, but he is a very powerful wizard!

In Nchardak, gathering the final loot, I think I may have set myself a personal record for the highest I’d ever seen my carry weight get before. With the help of a Fortify Restoration potion to boost the enchantments on my Fortify Carry Weight items, I actually got it up over 1,000!

(By and large these days I do prefer to play Skyrim modded. But if I’m playing mod-free, that Fortify Restoration glitch is super helpful and I will shamelessly take advantage of it!)

Of course, being me, I also promptly got overloaded even past that, while running Nchardak’s Black Book! This made getting through there a little tricky, because my reduced speed meant I had to time jumping onto the moving tunnels very, very carefully.

Achievements unlocked

Raven Rock Owner: For owning a house in Raven Rock, i.e., Severin Manor
The Temple of Miraak: For completing the quest of that name
The Path of Knowledge: For completing the quest of that name

Achievements count as of this post: 52.

Language commentary

Interesting terms observed:

Lots and lots of German words…

Schuppenhaut: Scale-skin (used as an insult by the Redoran guards)
Morvayn-Anwesen: Morvayn Manor (lit. “Morvayn Estate”)
Übeltäter: Culprit, evildoer (used by the Dragonborn to identify Tilisu as the suspect when reporting in to Adril Arano)
Wertgegenstand: Object of value, valuable (used by Cindiri to describe her missing folio)
Foliant: Folio
Schnelle Sturmböe: Strident Squall (the ship) (lit. “rapid storm surge”)
Wrack der Schnellen Sturmböe: Wreck of the Strident Squall (full name of the shipwreck location, note the -n being added for the dative case)
Seemänner: Sailors
Severin-Anwesen: Severin Manor (lit. “Severin Estate”)
Tresor der Severin-Familie: Severin Family Safe
Alter Attiushof: Old Attius Farm
All-Schöpfer: All-Maker
Morag-Tong-Assassine: Morag Tong Assassin
Aschenbrachenzitadelle: Ashfallow Citadel
Besitztümern: Estate, possessions (used by Councilor Morvayn when awarding Severin Manor and all it contains to the player)
Bürgerrecht: Citizenship, civil rights
Chitinrüstung des Mächtigen Ritters: Chitin Heavy Armor of the Eminent Knight (worn by Vendil Severin)
Chitinarmschienen des Überragenden Führens: Chitin Heavy Gauntlets of Eminent Wielding (also worn by Vendil Severin)
Knochenrüstungshelm: Bonemold Helmet
Knochenrüstungspanzerhandschuhe: Bonemold Gauntlets
Knochenrüstungsschild: Bonemold Shield
Knochenrüstungsstiefel: Bonemold Boots
Knochenrüstung-Armschiene: Bonemold Pauldron Armor
Morag-Tong-Armschienen: Morag Tong Bracers
Morag-Tong-Kapuze: Morag Tong Hood
Morag-Tong-Rüstung: Morag Tong Armor
Morag-Tong-Stiefel: Morag Tong Boots
Halskette der Immunität Gegen Krankheiten: Necklace of Disease Immunity
Nord-Amulet der Überragenden Gesundheit: Nordic Amulet of Eminent Health
Nord-Diadem der Höchsten Magicka: Nordic Circlet of Eminent Magicka
Nord-Ring der Überragenden Ausdauer: Nordic Ring of Eminent Stamina
Ring des Führens: Ring of Wielding
Gekritzelte Notiz: Scrawled Note (the one found at Bloodskal Barrow, in the reaver tower built outside it)
In Sachen Ulen: The Ulen Matter (the note found during running Served Cold)
Kriegserklärung: Declaration of War (the note by the undead General Falx Carius, when you’re running the March of the Dead quest)
Windstein: Wind Stone
Tierstein: Beast Stone
Rieklingkrieger: Riekling Warrior
Kultistenadept: Cultist Adept
Tempel von Miraak: Temple of Miraak
Plünderergesetzloser: Reaver Outlaw
Machenschaften: Creations, but also machinations (see below)
Schamane: Shaman
Baumstein: Tree Stone
Käfigen: Cages
Ebenerzzweihänder: Ebony Greatsword
Tempel von Miraak: Allerheiligstes: Temple of Miraak Sanctum
Zaubertrank der Kräftigen Heilung: Potion of Vigorous Healing
Drachenkult: Dragon Cult
Pilzsporen: Mushroom spore (used by Varona when describing how Neloth built Tel Mithryn)
Schlüssel zum Tempel von Miraak: Temple of Miraak Key
Schlüssel erforderlich: Key required
Essbereich: Dining area
Geheimgang: Secret passage
Ruinierte Bücher: Ruined books
Schwarzes Buch: Wachträume: Black Book: Waking Dreams
Skaal-Dorf: Skaal Village
Storn Fels-Schreiter: Storn Crag-Strider
Piratenkapitän: Pirate Captain
Todesmal: Deathbrand
Todesmalschatzkarte: Deathbrand Treasure Map
Piratenmagier: Pirate Mage
Pirat: Pirate
Mehr, Als Du Kauen Kannst: More Than You Can Chew (the quest)
Holzkohle: Charcoal
Plünderermarodeur: Reaver Marauder
Dreckskerl: Bastard, louse, dirty swine (used by the reaver ranting about the treasure in Frossel)
Schlangendrache: Serpentine Dragon (lit. “snake dragon”)
Zaubertrank des Wasserwandelns: Potion of Waterwalking
Frostmondschlucht: Frostmoon Crag
Altar von Thrond: Altar of Thrond
Moesringpass: Moesring Pass
Miraak hat de Drachenseele in sich aufgenommen!: ~~Miraak can fuck right off there~~ er, aheh, I mean, Miraak has absorbed the dragon’s soul!
Saerings Wacht: Saering’s Watch
Willen beugen: Bend Will (the Shout)
Haknirs Untiefe: Haknir’s Shoal
Schleicherhüter: Lurker Guardian
Deor Holzhauer: Deor Woodcutter (of the Skaal)
Fanari Laute-Stimme: Fanari Strong-Voice (chief of the Skaal)
Wulf Wild-Blut: Wulf Wild-Blood
Anführerin: Leader, chief (feminine)
Schamanenhütte: Shaman’s Hut
Verbündeter: Ally
Sonnenstein: Sun Stone
Baldor Eisen-Former: Baldor Iron-Shaper
Todesmalhelm: Deathbrand Helm
Bujolds Zuflucht: Bujold’s Retreat
Pilzsporen: Mushroom spores
Schutzvitrine: Protective glass case (used by Neloth to describe where the Black Book in Nchardak is)
Gesindel: Rabble, riffraff (used by Neloth to describe the reavers at Nchardak)
Nchardak: Lesezimmer: Nchardak: Reading Room
Eroberungsversuchen: Conquest attempts (used by Neloth when recounting the history of Nchardak)
Kontrollwürfel: Control Cube
Kontrollschalter: Control Switch
Nchardak: Werkstatt: Nchardak Workshop
Zwergenspinnenarbeiter: Dwarven Spider Worker
Wasserpegel: Water level
Zwergenballistameister: Dwarven Ballista Master
Nchardak: Große Halle: Nchardak: Great Chamber
Steinbank: Stone Bench
Nchardak: Aquädukt: Nchardak: Aqueduct
Kontrollsockel: Control Base
Kagrumez-Resonanzedelstein: Kagrumez Resonance Gem
Dampfzufuhr: Steam supply
Der Waldmensch: The Gardener of Men (quest) (lit. “the Woodsman”)
Verbriefter Scharfsinn: Epistolary Acumen (the Black Book)
Kapitel: Chapter
Macht des Drachenbluts: Dragonborn Force
Rieklingspäher: Riekling Scout
Rieklingkrieger: Riekling Warrior
Knochenrüstungspanzerhandschuhe (31 characters!): Bonemold Gauntlets

I noticed the Redoran guards calling me “Schuppenhaut”, which appeared to translate to “scale-skin”. I am shocked, shocked I say, that they didn’t like Argonians! Gee, I wonder why? (Spoiler alert: not actually shocked.) And this was definitely a situation of Finds going “Too damned bad!”

While running Miraak’s temple, I noted partway through that the German dialogue was pronouncing “Miraak” as three syllables, not two. This happened most often with Frea, but I noticed it as well with other NPCs. Everyone kept pronouncing it “Mir-a-ak”.

Which was interestingly contradictory, given that everyone was also saying “Skaal” as one syllable, not two.

So not sure what’s up with that pronunciation choice, there. I am of course not a native German speaker, I’m only going by what I know from my studies of the language… but to date, I’ve never seen “aa” as a valid diphthong in German. German does have diphthongs, just not that one. So my best guess here is that the voice actors were taking their best guess as to how to handle that particular diphthong, but wound up just not being consistent about it.

Maybe because in English, even though both words have the double a, “Miraak” and “Skaal” are not actually pronounced quite the same. Miraak sounds like “mir-ack”, a straight up short a in English.

Whereas “Skaal” sounds like saying “scald”, but with a silent d. And the pronunciation of “Skaal” actually sounds pretty close to how German pronounces the letter “a” in words like “Apfel” or “Katze”. So maybe “Skaal” was just easier for the German voice actors to parse?

When I cleared the Sun Stone, one of the freed reavers threw a line I hadn’t heard before, even in English! This was the line, in German:

… blöde Zauberer … Bin nicht gut genug für eure feine Akademie, was?

This translates back to:

… stupid sorcerer … not good enough for your fine academy, huh?

Which is a pretty good match for how the UESP wiki says this line goes in English:

…damn wizards… not good enough for yer precious college, eh?”

So that was fun. This does appear to be an idle line unique to reavers, it’s not present in the list of idle dialogue for mainland bandits! And it’s delightful when Skyrim shows it can still surprise me.

Neloth’s German voice actor explicitly pronounced Nchardak as “enchardak”. As opposed to how it sounds in English, where the pronunciation does its best to smoosh n and ch together into a single sound. So that was an interesting vocal distinction.

The translation of “Schnelle Sturmböe” for Strident Squall has a couple of bits that interest me. First, “Schelle” is “rapid/fast”, whereas the English “Strident” is more “loud/raucous”. So the English name of the shipwreck has that “loud/raucous” connotation, whereas the German name has the connotation of speed. Either of these, I feel, are pretty good to apply to a storm squall.

Now, the word “Strident” in English does have German translations, so this raises the question of why they didn’t use one of those. (Source) In particular, I wonder why they didn’t go with “Schrill” as the translation. But maybe in German, that word is more commonly applied to people’s voices, as opposed to acts of nature?

Meanwhile, I am a trifle confused by “Sturmböe”, too. Because I find references to it spelled with that e on the end, as well as without! And I’m not clear on whether the plural is supposed to be -e or -en, either. (Source) (Source) (Source) (Source)

But, well, there are certainly bunches of words all over the English language that have variant spellings. So I can’t really be surprised that this can happen in German, too.

I had to dig a little to find this, but I did determine that “brach” in German does translate to “fallow”, but it appears to be an older usage? (Source) As I’ve written before, though, that actually kinda tracks for use in translating Skyrim, just to help with the overall feel of the setting.

There’s a small inconsistency in the translations of the three jewelry items you get as part of the Nordic Jewelry quest. In Finds’ run, I got those items at the level that they boost everything by 50 points. But the necklace and ring used “Überragenden” as the translation for “Eminent”, whereas the circlet used “Höchsten”.

Looking up the translation for “Ring des Führens” taught me a thing I didn’t know: that apparently the verb “führen”, which means “to lead”, can also be used to mean “to carry/have/bear”. So clearly, that latter definition is in play here for a Ring of Wielding.

When I found Frea at the Temple of Miraak and she threw her line describing how something has taken control of most of the people of Solstheim, this is how that line went in German:

Es bringt sie dazu, sich selbst zu vergessen und an diesen schrecklichen Machenschaften zu arbeiten, die die Steine und das Land selbst korrumpieren.

Here’s the equivalent line in English:

Something has taken control of most of the people of Solstheim. It makes them forget themselves, and work on these horrible creations that corrupt the Stones, the very land itself.

The part that interests me here is the word “Machenschaften”, in the German version of the line. What sources I use say this word is for what English speakers would call “machinations”, “wheelings and dealings”, or “shenanigans”. And at least for an English speaker, there’s not really a connotation of something being created involved.

And I’m not seeing that looking up the German word, either. (Source) (Source)

But I am not actually going to quibble with this as a word choice, either. Because it’s not at all inappropriate! Frea clearly and correctly believes that some sort of horrible intrigue or plot is going on to subjugate her people, that’s very clear from her English dialogue. So I don’t think the German translators were out of line on this at all.

As a Jeopardy fan, I am obliged to giggle at the last name of the Skaal Deor Woodcutter translating to “Holzhauer”. So I wonder if Deor is nearly as good at Jeopardy as James? Does he gamble?

The quest “The Gardener of Men” is renamed to “Der Waldmensch” in the German build. This is not a direct translation, but it’s also still lore-appropriate! Because it translates to “the woodsman”–and the UESP lore page for Hermaeus Mora includes “the Woodland Man” as one of the many names he has, courtesy of the Bosmer.

Which of course raises the question of why change the translation at all. If I throw “The Gardener of Men” through Reverso’s translation engine, I get “Der Gärtner der Männer”. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like it’d be a problem in terms of length of string for the game UI, certainly. But it’s also possible that the translation team felt like the nuance of Hermaeus Mora being a “gardener of men” (read: an entity who manipulates and cultivates men for his own reasons) might not translate well into German.

I am delighted to report that “Knochenrüstungspanzerhandschuhe”, the translation of “Bonemold Gauntlets”, now sets a record of 31 characters for longest German noun observed in this run.

And that’s an excellent place to conclude the language analysis for this post!

Voice acting commentary

I had to remind myself to not hold it against the German voice actor that he was not Dwight Schultz, LOL. But man, was he doing a different take on the character.

German Neloth sounds actively old. This is not entirely out of line, given that the character is centuries old by the time of Dragonborn; this same character does, after all, also show up in Morrowind.

Other long-lived characters in Skyrim rarely actually sound old, unless Skyrim explicitly classes them as “elders”. But German Skyrim appears to bring in older-sounding voice talent on some of these characters, and I actually really like that, so!

Next time

Finds-The-Way’s playthrough has six more sessions to cover before I can finally finish writing about her! And her next post is going to cover two of those sessions, with more action on Solstheim. Stay tuned!

Screenshots

Team Dragonborn in Miraak's Temple — Nix-Hound Typo